Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are an important convenience that many merchants, such as a shop keeper, offer to their customers. They provide customers with easy access to the customer's funds so that they can make purchases while at the merchant's place of business. In addition to providing a convenience to customers, they are beneficial to merchants: customers can access their cash without leaving the merchant's premises; ATMs may also result in increased sales as customers may choose to make additional purchases while at the merchant's location.
ATMs located in a merchant's premises can also provide revenue for the merchant and perhaps other companies involved in the transaction, as many ATMs located on such premises have a fee associated with drawing money. However, there are occasions when the merchant may not replenish the ATM when the stored cash is depleted, and the provider of the ATM loses potential revenue due to this.
Many ATMs are serviced solely by the provider or their authorised agents i.e. not by the merchant. Therefore, the merchant has to wait for the provider to refill the ATM when the cash is depleted. Moreover, the cost of replenishing such units can be costly to the merchant and/or ATM provider. In addition, if money becomes jammed in the ATM this may result in the ATM becoming inoperable and no transactions can be made until a service engineer is called out to clear the jam.
To try and reduce the replenishment cost associated with ATMs serviced solely by the provider, one known device allows an employee, at the merchant's into an acceptor on the dispenser of the ATM. This solution reduces the number of visits required, by the provider, to replenish the ATM and eliminates the need for the merchant to have to gain entry to the cash drawer, which the provider is reluctant to allow due to the risk of loss or theft of money from the cash drawer.